Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
________
EVA
NINE MONTHS LATER
“Do you really need me to go to this thing with you?” Esme asked, flopping down on the beanbag in our living room. The thing was ridiculous. It was bigger than I was. Hell, it was bigger than Dylan.
But we loved it. I would never admit it, but I ran and jumped into the beanbag pretty much every day. Landing in a poof was way too satisfying.
My sister still pouted as she sank deeper into the thing.
“Yes, I do. And you’re going to wear whatever I put you in.”
“Eva.”
“Esme.” I gave her a look.
She groaned. “I think I would rather have bamboo shoved under my nails.”
“Listen.” I sat on the coffee table across from her.
It was like looking in a mirror. Though, thanks to filming, my hair was much shorter and blonder than Esme’s now.
“Going to this thing and looking fucking fabulous is only going to help you. I know you hate the press attention, but if they think you’re happy and thriving they’ll back off.
People always want to read more about drama than happiness. ”
“Why do you have to be right when all I want to do is sulk? I know this will help the ‘rumors,’ or whatever the hell Katarina was talking about yesterday.”
Eva smacked my knee. “I knew you were listening.” My mother was still trying to set Esme up with packs, and it wasn’t going well. She’d left, but our twin connection told me she’d lingered to hear what our mother and the matchmaker said.
“You did not.”
I rolled my eyes. “I did. And yeah, that bitch was way out of line. The next time I see Mom alone I’m telling her to dump her ass.”
She smirked, and I realized how I was standing. Hands on hips, like I was about to march off and give someone a piece of my mind. “Shut up.”
“I said nothing.”
The front door closed. “Hello? I brought home pizza. Oh, hey, Esme.”
Bourbon and mint flooded the air as Liam appeared behind me. Esme waved, but all we could see was each other. It had been a year since we met, and I still got butterflies and waves of desire whenever we were in the same room.
The pizza boxes hit the coffee table and then I was in his arms. His smile was all I saw before he kissed me. And kissed me, and kissed me, and kissed me. His tongue traced mine, coaxing it into the dance we knew and loved.
“Get a room, please.” Esme’s voice broke through the haze of being in my Alpha’s presence.
I flipped her off and kept kissing him a few more seconds just for the hell of it before I pulled away. “We have to get ready, anyway.”
“Get ready for what?” Jack appeared in the kitchen doorway. Shirtless. Tattoos on full display.
My mouth watered. “Studio party, remember? I’m dragging Esme with me.” But looking at Jack standing there half naked was making me consider skipping the whole thing.
“Though I’m perfectly willing to just go home,” Esme called.
“No, you’re not.” Jack and Liam smirked as she came over, grabbed my arm, and marched me upstairs. It was fine. I was trying to help Esme get out a little more, and also help her combat her negative image in the press. Ever since I bonded my pack, they’d been both ruthless and relentless.
I strode into my bedroom. “Okay, what vibe are we feeling tonight?”
“There are no vibes. I have no vibes. I am not a vibe.”
“Sexy as hell it is,” I said, going into my closet.
This closet needed a good clean out and more organization, but part of me loved the glorious chaos. It felt like being in a movie montage every time I came in here.
There. Perfect. The dress was something I fucking loved, but I couldn’t wear it. It wasn’t ‘wholesome’ enough, according to my publicist. Fuck that. I was now fully working toward cracking the goody-two-shoes image. I was almost thirty, and enough was enough.
I grabbed the dress and held it up. “Here. I’ve been dying to wear this, but my publicist absolutely forbid it, so I’m going to have to live vicariously through you.”
Her face looked stunned. “There’s no way in hell I can pull that off.”
The dress was gold, short, slinky, and sexy. “You can one-hundred-percent pull this off. How do I know? Because it looks fucking fabulous on me, and we’re identical twins. Put it on.”
Esme stuck her tongue out at me, but she took the dress. “Are your Alphas going to come waltzing in here? Or should I change in the bathroom?”
I laughed. “I mean, it’s not their room, but yeah, maybe use the bathroom.” They wouldn’t come in here while they knew I wasn’t alone, but Esme wasn’t entirely wrong, given we all spent most nights either here or in the nest.
“Just so you know,” Esme called from the bathroom. “I hate you.”
“I know. Get your ass out here.” My jaw dropped open when she appeared. Literally dropped open. She looked fucking incredible. “Holy shit, Esme.”
“Have I mentioned I really hate it when you’re right? I’m going to need to borrow makeup, though.”
I pointed her toward the vanity that was strewn with makeup. “Have at it.”
We’d decided to do our own makeup tonight instead of having a bunch of people around.
I pulled the dress I was supposed to wear off the hanger and made a face. I didn’t like wearing white. But my team thought it was a good dress, emphasizing the fun summer movies I’d be promoting soon. And keeping that innocent yet sexy vibe.
It fell to my knees and had a nice cowl neck, but other than that it felt… plain. The only thing of interest was that the skirt had some volume. Give it to me in another color and I’d be sold.
“What do you think of this?” I asked Esme.
She looked, and I saw the truth in her eyes. That it was fine but not great. “It’s pretty.”
I sighed. “I would kill to wear what you’re wearing right now. I’ve been begging Jasmine and Brian to let me go a little edgier, but the whole team thinks it’s a bad idea.”
“Why?”
“Because I still have three more Summer Saga movies coming up, and they don’t want to piss off the studio. Which is one of the reasons we’re going to this party.”
Esme started going through one of my jewelry boxes, looking for something to complement the gold. The dangly earrings she picked jogged my memory.
“Hold on, I have something else perfect for that.” I found the armband in my closet and grabbed shoes for us before I pushed the swirling metal cuff all the way up my sister’s arm. “God, you’re such a badass.”
“Remind me why I’m going to this party again? Don’t the guys want to go?” She was on the verge of bailing. I heard it in her tone.
“They would go if I asked, but I told them not to. I’m trying to help you, remember? Pictures of you in this dress are going to have packs begging to meet you. And none of them will think you’re me when I’m wearing a white sack.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s not a sack.”
“You get the point.”
She slipped into the gold heels I gave her.
“What if I don’t want packs knocking down my door?
What if I just want what you have? To meet the right pack at the right time and for everything to be simple.
I don’t think that’s going to happen with Katarina lining up every pack made up of suit-wearing Alphas. ”
“It’ll happen, May-may. Promise.”
Her scent turned darker. She didn’t believe me, and that was fine. Hopefully my plan would work and the press would lighten up. Things would be so much easier if the packs approaching her weren’t viewing her as some sort of challenge.
“Okay, I think I’m ready,” she said.
“Hold on.” I grabbed my scent canceller and passed it to her. “Put this on. Scent canceller. Not for you, but these things are just a mess of everyone, so if you need to clear your head it’s good. I mean, they’ll be spraying scent cancellers, but you can’t be too careful.”
Esme looked at the little roller like it might bite her, but she nodded. “I’ll keep it with me, if that’s okay.”
“Sure.” I gave her a clutch on her way out the door.
The sight at the bottom of the stairs made me grin. All four Alphas lined up and waiting for me. The minute I stepped into view, I felt the way their attention went taut. The rush of arousal and overwhelming love.
Esme passed them. “I’ll wait for you in the hall.”
“Looking good, Esme,” Tyler called after her, but his eyes never left me.
Jack, still shirtless, wrapped an arm around my waist and tugged me against his chest. “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you.” I fought the sigh and lost. “I hate this dress.”
“Then wear something else.”
I made a face. I’m trying to play along. For now. “My plan for the new badass Eva is still in the works, but it won’t matter if I piss off the studio.”
“Fair enough. But you’re still beautiful.” Jack kissed my nose, then my lips lightly as not to ruin my lipstick.
Dylan spun me under his arm and hugged me. Kissed me on the cheek.
I started laughing when Tyler stole me away. “I’ll be back in a few hours. You don’t have to say goodbye to me like I’m going off to war.”
Tyler ignored me and kissed me anyway.
“It is a war,” Liam said as he lowered his forehead to mine. “The press, your fans, everything.”
“Can’t exactly argue with that.” I wiggled out of his grasp and winked at them. “Be back soon.”
Esme leaned against the wall in the hall, scrolling on her phone, while Neil waited for me.
“Ready.”
Looking over at my bodyguard, Esme cleared her throat. “How’s it looking tonight, Neil?”
“About average. I’m expecting it to be much tighter at the venue. When we get there, straight from the car to the door, no questions.”
“Yeah, Jasmine said as much,” I said. “No questions from reporters outside. You too, Esme. We’re controlling the story as much as we can for the release next month.”
Not that Esme would ever voluntarily speak to the press. She’d rather dive into a bathtub full of worms than speak to a member of the paparazzi.
And they were already here, waiting for me. We’d given them the tip, wanting good photos. All the cameras already flashed. I looked over at Esme and looped my arm through hers. “Smile on?”
I watched as she braced herself and straightened her shoulders. “Smile on.”